


Blake's Anniversary

by Kiiratam



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Comfort, F/F, Implied/Referenced Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 00:50:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20023816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: Blake demands that Yang take her out. Anywhere. Yang has a bad feeling about this.Takes place between Volumes 1 and 2. (My BMBLB fic index)





	Blake's Anniversary

"Hey Yang, can we go somewhere tonight?"

  
Yang didn't know how Blake got all her stuff packed up so fast. Professor Oobleck had just assigned them homework and said "Class dismissed!", and she was still copying down the homework assignment. And there was Blake already standing, packed up and waiting for her.

  
"Uh, yeah? I guess?" Fifty pages? _And_ a two page essay on it? By next class? "Where did you want to go?" My grave, when I can't finish this? ...Eh, still worth it.

  
Blake levered herself up and down on the balls of her feet. "I don't know. I just- I need to get out."

  
"Want to head down to get fish tacos, then see where we wind up? There's a lot of stuff down by the waterfront we haven't seen."

  
"Like what?"

  
"Uhhhh - canning museum, a couple of fancy piers, the aquarium - but I don't know how late they're open -"

  
"Any of that sounds good." The words came out in a rush.

  
Most of the rest of the class had cleared out by this point. Ruby and Weiss had rushed off to their Weapons Lab and Logistics classes, respectively. Professor Oobleck had, as always, zoomed off as soon as he dismissed class. Yang made sure there was no one too close, and asked, quietly, "Blake? Are you okay? You seem kinda... frantic."

  
Blake sat down on the edge of the table. Started tapping her fingers on the tabletop. Yang tried not to gape. Blake, who hated unnecessary noise and motion. "Today - it's not a good day. Well, today isn't bad, but before this, it wasn't a good day. It's a day that means something, and I'd really really really not remember anything about that, at all. So can we go do something, please?"

  
"Yeah, sure." Yang gave up and stuffed all her stuff into her bag. "Let's just head back to the room, drop all this junk off, and get on the road." She stood up, offered Blake her hand. Blake grabbed onto it like she was drowning. Yang squeezed tightly, trying to give Blake an anchor point. She could feel her friend's pulse racing. "You have something to listen to on the ride?" Yang couldn't talk to Blake while on Bumblebee, could only help her by giving her a steady back and a quick ride.

  
"I have something all ready. Lots of notes, no time to think."

  
Yang resolved to pound one or two of Ruby's energy drinks when they got back to the room. She was going to need help keeping up. "Alright. Race you back?"

  
"You're on!"

* * *

Yang leaned against the doorframe, sucking air. She hadn't expected to win (and she hadn't), but she also hadn't expected Blake to turn around, run back to her, and race her the diminished distance. Multiple times. She briefly considered just taking Blake to a bar, and getting her trashed. Buuuuuut that was a bad state to deal with bad memories. Good for getting her talking, though. Maybe that would help. Uncle Qrow would think it was a good idea.

  
Trash that plan. Next? Blake was nearly bouncing off the walls, grabbing Yang's motorcycle jackets, getting changed out of her school uniform, reading from her scroll, stealing some of Ruby's cookies- So much for getting a breath. Yang half-slid into the room, closed the door with her foot. Time for drastic measures.

  
"Hey Blake - " She pulled her blouse and school jacket off over her head, in a single, quick motion. "Could you toss me a shirt?" Yang started unhooking her skirt, looking up under her eyelashes at Blake.

  
She'd stopped in her tracks, next cookie halfway to her mouth. Blake was blinking rapidly, swallowing repeatedly.

  
Well, that answered certain questions. Yang let her skirt drop, stepped over to their shared closet. Pulled the bottom drawer of her dresser out, and started rooting around in it, bent over from the waist. Normally, she'd crouch down, but if the distraction was working... A few more seconds to think. She grabbed a pair of her motorcycling pants, tugging them on. "No shirt suggestions, Blake?"

  
Blake had recovered enough to go bright red, and hurry to the closet.

  
"I mean, if you want to hand me my jacket, I can just go in this." She gestured at her bra.

  
Grabbing a shirt from the closet - from her side - Blake thrust it at her. "If you don't put a shirt on, I will tear all your clothes off."

  
Yang tried to squeeze into the shirt. Got it stuck on her chest. "I mean, we can stay in." She wiggled, working the shirt down slowly.

  
"Yang, your sister and Weiss are going to be back in an hour. That is not nearly enough time for me to finish with you. And I wouldn't stop when they came back."

  
"Right, going out!" Weiss might deserve that, but no need to traumatize Ruby. And, honestly, Blake was scaring her a little bit. She'd probably live up to her words, regret it, and pull back. Maybe forever. She finished pulling Blake's shirt down over her chest. "Jacket?"

  
Blake handed it to her, staring into her eyes. Blinked slowly.

  
"So, down to the garage? You got your music?"

  
"Yes." Blake held up a pair of earbuds and her scroll. "All ready."

  
"Good. Plug in, and keep an eye out for cops on the road. Because I'm going to be going a little fast."

* * *

Yang wasn't quite sure how they'd made it downtown without getting pulled over. She patted Bumblebee fondly as they headed off toward the taco truck. Blake unplugged her ear buds, stuffed them into her jacket pocket.

  
Catching up with her, Yang asked, "So, what do you think, the usual? Want to try something new? Shrimp tacos? Looks like they have a barbecued pork filling now."

  
Blake shrugged. "Fish is fine."

  
Yang cursed inwardly. Not fast enough. She'd seen most of her family do this, whipsawing between mania and despair. Especially her dad. On the really bad days, at least. Nothing for it but to keep talking, and hope she didn't stuff her entire foot in her mouth. And that Blake didn't hate her in the morning. "Okay! Let's get in line. Least it's not as busy as it usually is. Want me to pay?"

  
"I can get it."

  
"Tutoring going well?"

  
"All right."

  
Got to get her actually thinking about the conversation. Get her attention. ...Maybe not the same way as last time. "Hey, about Oobleck's homework?"

  
"What about it?"

  
"Can you give me a hand with it? I mean, not the reading, but maybe talk about it afterwards? See if I actually got it?"

  
"Sure." She paused. "You're not dumb."

  
"Well no, but sometimes-"

  
"Why don't you care?"

  
Yang bit the inside of her cheek. "Lots of reasons. Sometimes, I just think it's not very interesting. I mean, it's history. It'll all done with. Where's the action?"

  
"You don't think it affects what happens today?"

  
"I mean, sure. All our yesterdays add up to today." Yang recognized she was probably on thin ice, and pressed on. "But today's the important one. Today's the day we can actually change."

  
Blake nodded. "What about discovery? History isn't static. We're always learning new things about it."

  
"Yeah, I guess. But how much of that is new information, and how much is our changing perspective? Eight fish tacos and two waters, please." She smiled at the truck vendor, who looked at them, nodded his recognition, and started working on their order.

  
Blake pulled her wallet out, and set the lien on the counter. "Both, really. We're getting farther away, so we can see the whole better. But we also forget how it felt at the time, who we were then. We gain perspective, and lose intimacy."

  
"That sounds more like losing information."

  
"Maybe some things should be lost."

  
"Oooh, Oobleck would not be happy to hear you say that."

  
Scoffing, Blake said. "It would be fewer pages for you to read."

  
"Yeah, okay, good point." Yang tried to think of somewhere to go from there. Somewhere a little less perilous. "Hey, did you get any new books lately?"

  
"No." Blake had gone rigid. "Nothing looked good."

  
Nothing was distracting her, she meant. Yang put her hand behind her head. "Well, I guess that rules out going to the bookstore." No, bad, foot, mouth. Don't make her think she's ruined your plans. "Want to go to an arcade? I know a couple nearby."

  
"Too loud." She gestured vaguely at her ears. "They just... hurt." Blake looked down. "I'm not making this easy for you, am I?"

  
Yang tried to make herself sound extra boisterous. "Hey, I love a challenge! You want to check the aquarium hours?" She continued as Blake pulled out her scroll. "They've got all kinds of cool stuff - not just fish displays, but a whole lot on underwater Grimm - I went there on a field trip when I was at Signal."

  
"They close in half an hour."

  
Next plan, then. "There's an art museum nearby. They've got all kinds of seascapes and old ship models."

  
"Another field trip?"

  
"Yeah, and I didn't think it was going to be very interesting. But they had this really cool giant set-piece of a naval battle, with tons of tiny miniature sailors and soldiers all fighting, and Grimm swarming in from the edges. I would have spent the entire trip there if I could have, just looking."

  
"Not the canning museum?"

  
Yang half-laughed. "Look, I just started naming places I knew. But Weiss would love it. It was very orderly."

  
The truck vendor set their change, waters, and bag of tacos of the counter. Grunted at them. They took their food and started wandering off to their usual spot, perched on one of the short walls of the nearby park.

  
"The art museum sounds good."

  
Yang nodded. "Cool. We can just eat, and walk over there. It's only a couple of blocks."

* * *

"'Closed for renovations'? Are you serious?!" She'd managed to tiptoe through light conversation with Blake all through dinner and the walk over, and now-

  
"Yang..."

  
Catching the tone of Blake's voice, Yang stamped down on her rage. She took a breath, turned up her hands with a sheepish look. "I really know how to pick them tonight. Sorry, Blake."

  
"It's okay. Maybe we should just walk and talk."

  
Yang nodded. "Maybe in the direction of the piers? We could catch the sunset over the ocean. No rush, we can make it at a mosey."

  
"All right." Blake seemed on the verge of saying something more, so Yang kept her mouth shut. They walked for a few minutes in silence, the streets nearly empty. Finally, Blake managed to speak. "Yang, have you ever been in a relationship?"

  
"Ummm. Not really?" Yang cast her mind back. "I mean, I was in some things back at Signal that, looking back, are sort of relationship-shaped, but..." She sighed. "I mean, first it was just that I needed to look after Ruby."

  
"Aren't you still doing that?"

  
"Well, yeah, kinda. But Ruby's the team leader, and she can stand on her own two feet now." Yang laughed. "It's not like she can't find me if she needs help."

  
Blake nodded. "You're always there for her."

  
"She's my little sister. I mean, we don't always get along perfectly, but that's how families are."

  
"What other than Ruby?"

  
Yang shrugged. "I dunno. It was just... easier. To be able to flirt with whoever I wanted. It could be fun, watching them follow me around like puppies. Most of them hung around enough that we became friends. Or people to have fun with. Just... low maintenance. I didn't have to do anything, for once. I could just have fun."

  
"So not like me."

  
Realizing what she'd said, and how Blake probably took it, Yang turned to her. Reached out to touch her shoulder as Blake turned away. "I didn't have to do anything with them. Like care, or do anything but toy with them. Why do you think I don't hang out with any of my old Signal 'friends'? They found better friends, ones who actually cared about them." Yang stepped closer, laid her face against Blake's shoulder. "I'm here because I care. About you."

  
"I'm just a burden. A clingy, weepy, high maintenance burden. I'm just holding you back."

  
"What, because you make me actually do work? Blake, you've seen my theory grades. I only do the work when I have to, or when I want to. I _have_ to do my homework. I _have_ to keep my temper in check. I _want_ to do work on Bumblebee. I _want_ to be there for you." Yang chuckled. "Besides, have you seen how high maintenance Bumblebee is? You aren't high maintenance. You haven't made me run to the store at three in the morning - literally run - to get two tiny screws that, apparently, hold Bumblebee's everything on."

  
Blake sniffled, leaned back onto Yang. "I'm sorry."

  
"So was I. I had to ride back to Signal the next day, and I kept wondering if I'd installed everything correctly or she was literally going to fall to pieces under me."

  
Yang felt Blake shake a little bit. Could have been a little bit of a laugh. Could have been a swallowed sob. Blake turned around, took Yang's hands, raised her eyes. "I want to tell you something."

  
"Okay."

  
"I've been in one relationship. Today was the first day we-" She bit her lip, looked away.

  
Yang squeezed Blake's hands, kept silent. Waiting.

  
"It was very special to him. To me. He always kept track, year after year. But- there was so much else. Other things. I-" She swallowed, looking for words.

  
"It's okay, Blake. You don't have to force anything. You can tell me if you want, and I'll always be here to listen. But we've got time. You can take it slow."

  
Blake sniffed, freed a hand to wipe her eyes. "Can I have a hug?"

  
Pulling her closer, Yang wrapped her up in a tight embrace. She shoved all thoughts about Blake's ex away, what basic math could tell her, how much she hated someone she'd never met. Except through Blake's scars.

  
"I'm here for you, Blake." She reached up and stroked her friend's hair. "I'm here."

  
They kept the hug for a long minute, Yang glaring at anyone who looked at them too long or passed too close. Breaking the embrace, Blake headbutted Yang's shoulder gently. Took her hand.

  
"Off to the sunset?" Yang pointed down the street, where the ocean was distantly visible.

  
"That sounds nice."

  
"And absolutely no promises about it being open, but there is a decent ice cream shop on that pier. We can get something for the walk back. My treat."

  
"I'd like that."


End file.
